City Council responds to Hundley’s Brown Act allegation

The Sonoma City Council is meeting Rachel Hundley halfway.

At the council’s Aug. 17 meeting, members agreed upon a response to Vice Mayor Hundley’s allegation that her four council colleagues violated state open-meeting laws when they discussed topics not on the agenda during a “closed session” meeting in June.

As part of her allegation, Hundley demanded the council publicly promise to cease the violation and agree that for a period of 12 months all closed-session meetings be attended by either the city manager, the City Attorney or an “other authorized third party.”

The council voted 4-0 on Monday to issue Hundley a letter stating the council “unconditionally commits that it will cease, desist from, and not repeat the challenged past action” that she alleges was a violation of the Ralph M. Brown Act, a state law that requires transparency about the proceedings in meetings of local legislative bodies.

However, the council refused to concede to her demand that additional city staff be present for each of the next year’s closed-session meetings.

“There is no provision in the Brown Act requiring such a person to be present at every closed session the council is authorized to hold,” read the letter signed by Mayor Logan Harvey on behalf of himself and councilmembers Madolyn Agrimonti, David Cook and Amy Harrington.

Hundley, who is also an attorney, had recused herself from the discussion on Monday due to a potential conflict of interest – as she’d bear the cost if she follows through on a threat to take legal action against the city if her demands aren’t met.

The letter stresses that the council members are not admitting to a Brown Act violation, but simply attempting to “avoid unnecessary litigation.”

The council fracas stems from a June 18 closed-session meeting the Vice Mayor alleges was held under the pretense of labor negotiations, but was in fact staged to force a month-long, unpaid furlough upon City Manager Cathy Capriola.

Hundley detailed her allegations in a July 20 letter sent to City Hall.

According to Hundley, the June 18 meeting was attended by only the five city council members and agendized to discuss labor negotiations – but, she said, the council members never broached the topic of labor or unions.

Instead, Hundley alleges, the labor meeting was merely a pretext for the council members to “conspire” to impose four weeks of unpaid leave upon Capriola due to her being overworked, among other criticisms. She described the furlough as a form of reprimand.

Hundley, the only council member to attend the meeting remotely, said that after about 15 minutes she told her council colleagues that she suspected the discussion was in violation of the Brown Act, and left the meeting. Hundley said she then called City Attorney Jeff Walter regarding the alleged Brown Act violation.

When given a chance for questions and comments during the Aug. 17 consideration of the response letter, only Councilmember David Cook spoke up.

“How much money have we spend on legal on this?” Cook asked City Attorney Jeff Walter.

Between $1,000 and $2,000, Walter said.

Following the meeting, Harvey told the Index-Tribune that the council remains “extremely” supportive of City Manager Capriola and pointed out she nor any city staff member was ever furloughed.

“The council committed to not breaking the Brown Act to ensure that the city and taxpayer dollars were protected from the litigation threatened by Vice Mayor Hundley at a time when we have had to dip into reserves to cover revenue losses that have piled up in the wake of the pandemic,” Harvey said in an email.

Hundley, meanwhile, described the “collective silence” from the rest of the council as “disheartening.”

“Here was a city council who knew they had done something illegal and damaging, but no one on the dais articulated that fact to the public,” Hundley wrote to the Index-Tribune. “No one apologized to the public for violating its trust. No one spoke the words that it wouldn’t happen again.”

Hundley expressed further disappointment that her request for third-party oversight of closed session meetings was rejected. Still, she doubts she will pursue the matter further, saying “this was never about suing the city… this was about alerting the public to what is happening behind closed doors of its city council.”

Added Hundley: “Faith in government seems to be at an all-time low these days … and we should all demand our elected officials do their jobs for the public benefit and not personal egos.”

Email Jason at Jason.walsh@sonomanews.com.